Tag: property taxes

Those circulating a petition to dissolve the sanitation district based in Baldwin hope to trim property taxes, but district representatives say the change would cost jobs and save little money.

Spearheading the effort with taxpayers in the district are two grassroots groups: Residents for Efficient Special Districts (RESD), based in Baldwin, and Long Island Progressive Coalition (LIPC), of Massapequa.

Members hope to collect 5,000 signatures from residents to call for a referendum to do away with the nearly 84-year-old Sanitation District No. 2 that serves Baldwin, Roosevelt, South Hempstead and sections of Freeport, Rockville Centre and Uniondale.

“These districts are not economically sustainable,” said Laura Mallay, RESD’s executive director and a 20-year Baldwin resident who lost a bid for district commissioner in 2005. “Services will go down if we don’t do anything now.”

The New York Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act of 2009 gives residents a mechanism to consolidate and dissolve local governments. If advocates can secure the signatures of 10 percent of registered voters in the district, or 5,000 residents, the issue can go on the ballot.

Advocates wanting to get rid of the sanitation district have collected more than 3,000 signatures since March, Mallay said.

“Many of the residents of the area have been saying taxes are high,” said Serena Liguori, coordinator of LIPC’s Government Efficiency Project. “We certainly want to help support residents and help them save money if they can.”

State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) introduced a bill last January to amend the consolidation law to require a detailed alternate plan when there’s a vote on consolidation. Now, if residents vote to consolidate a local government, it must formulate a plan on how the services will be picked up. “Residents should know how those services are going to be provided and the cost of providing those services after the special district is eliminated,” Martins said.

Residents in the district would pay half of what they pay now if the district is dissolved and the Town of Hempstead picks up the sanitation services, Mallay said. A home assessed at $400,000 serviced by the Town of Hempstead paid $267 in sanitation taxes in 2010, while an identically assessed home in District 2 paid $509, advocates said.

“We feel that in one town there should be one tax rate,” Mallay said.

Hempstead Town spokesman Michael Deery said it’s “premature” for the town to consider taking over the district because no detailed plan has been made.

Former district board secretary Bob Noble, who spoke for the district, said the advocates’ claims are misleading. He said it appeared that their taxes are higher because insurance costs are calculated in the district budget. “Their cost analysis is faulty,” he said. About 70 people could lose their jobs if the district were abolished, he said.

“Is bigger always better?” Noble said. “We are small enough and responsible enough to get to people right away. Most people are not willing to give that up.”

State Sen. Brian X. Foley was joined by education advocates to call on his fellow Long Island senators to join him in supporting an override of Gov. Paterson’s veto of funding for education.

Last week, the senate and the assembly approved a budget bill that included $600 million in restorations to education funding. Foley and Sen. Craig Johnson were the only Long Island Senators who voted in favor of returning this money to school districts and taxpayers. Paterson had proposed cutting $1.5 billion. Based on the formulas used to calculate aid to school districts, schools within the 3rd Senate District were to receive the highest restoration amount of any senate district in the state. Paterson vetoed the funding within hours of its passage.

“Funding for our schools is not something we can allow to become a proverbial political football,” said Foley. “Long Island’s schools already receive funding at a level that is disproportionate to the percentage of students we have. When state aid is cut, the difference must ultimately be made up either by our property owners in the form of taxes or by our school children in the form of larger classes, fewer resources and reduced programs for athletics and the arts. I hope that my Long Island colleagues will join me in voting to override the governor’s veto so that our children can continue to receive the highest level of educational opportunity we can provide without schools needing to raise taxes to a level that will drive residents off of Long Island.”

The funding that was restored could be used districts to help offset the property tax levies that were included in the budgets passed by residents in May. The original bill passed the senate without a single vote from the Republican minority.

“Even though all of my Republican colleagues voted no on these restorations the first time we considered them, thereby depriving school districts of funds that could be used to reduce property taxes, they now have a chance to correct the mistake of their earlier vote,” said Foley. “I strongly implore them to stop saying no to our taxpayers and children, and start saying no to their leadership by standing up for Long Islanders.”

“The legislature has supported restoration of school aid statewide totaling $600 million, including approximately $65 million for Long Island school districts,” said Lisa Tyson, Director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition. “For the state’s neediest districts like Brentwood, Wyandanch, Central Islip, William Floyd and Westbury these funds would be available to restore cuts to the classroom. Governor Paterson vetoed these restorations to our classrooms. We have seen gains in student outcomes in needy districts on LI and across the state as a result of the state finally beginning to provide adequate funding to these needy school districts. The Governor’s veto is a major step backwards and both houses of the legislature should vote to override it. Long Island’s legislators, no matter what party, need to stand together against Governor Paterson’s veto that is so destructive to our local schools.”

The leadership in the senate has indicated that they would only call an override vote if it was certain that there were the necessary number of votes available. The support of Long Island’s senators for the override is crucial.

While the issues of funding quality schools and property tax reform on Long Island remain top priorities of elected leaders and taxpayers alike, common misconceptions, and flawed evaluations have led to reform proposals that fail to address the real property tax crisis on Long Island and across the state according to a new report released today by a coalition education and tax reform groups

“Property Taxes On Long Island: Zeroing In On The Problems And Solutions” exposes the common misconceptions that have driven the property tax debate in the past and explores Long Island’s property tax issues in depth.

The report concludes by examining and comparing a wide range of reform ideas introduced on Long Island and within the State Legislature as well as looking at these proposals’ advantages and disadvantages, who benefits, and how these reforms impact efforts to provide a quality school on Long Island and throughout the state.
Along with an in depth examination of the impact of property taxes on Long Island, the report offers five main conclusions.Related website: http://www.aqeny.org/cms_files/File/PropertyTaxes%20on%